Randal Kain
It was a good plan. Really it was. It's a crying shame that one or two unfortunate little matters have interfered and left you in a position that some would describe as, well, problematic...
Orders from Dravin Lancaster were to investigate the reasons behind Trade Federation's blockade of Naboo. It was too risky and emphatically militaristic a stroke for the cautious, paranoid Nemoidians. The objective too, seemed hardly worth the trouble - Naboo was just another backwater world, really. A simple enough investigation, in theory, if one that was aimed at a powerful target, and that carried very high stakes. Unfortunately, when you reached Naboo, the blockade was absolutely water-tight - it seemed that an inbound ship had evaded the Trade Federation's battleships and landed on the occupied planet not hours before, and readiness levels had been raised as a result. Your ship is most definitely not equipped to be a blockade runner, nor can you hope to punch your way through clouds of droid starfighters to make a landing on the planet. So, as usual, you trusted to your quick wits and silver tongue to bring success where force would not do the job.
The Trade Federation, despite Naboo, blockades and battle droids, are first and foremost concerned with, well, trade. Even their battleships are partially converted freighters - lightly armoured shells with weapon batteries and fighter bays installed in some of the cavernous cargo holds. Trade Federation representatives argue that this is just a necessary precaution for ships full of valuable merchandise that will have to operate in the more lawless regions of the Outer Rim. Be that as it may, the important fact is that Trade Federation ships, even those engaged in the Naboo blockade, are as much merchant vessels as warships. So it was simplicity itself to dump your cargo on an asteroid in the outer system, then coast unmolested into the teeth of the blockade simply by proclaiming yourself a dealer in electronic and communication devices who was looking to replenish his stocks.
Leaving Tennerley (10-LE, your rather morose LE repair droid) to oversee routine system checks and maintenance, you went on the standard trip to the command deck to receive the cursory greetings of the Nemoidian captain. He spoke about two sentences to you, before heading back to his sensors and military advisers, but it was enough. For you had managed to surreptitiously plant tiny listening devices through the passageways of the ship, and in the bridge, using a concealed dart gun designed for the purpose.
For the next few days, you and Tennerley concentrated on finalising your purchase order and dealing with an 'unanticipated hyperdrive problem' with your ship, while monitoring the communications of the bridge officers and crew. Unfortunately the Trade Federation's crews are largely composed of droids, so there wasn't much in the way of gossip to collect, but you did glean a few minor bits of interesting information. Notable was that the Federation was co-ordinating its efforts with unnamed allies ? probably in the Senate, you guessed, and also that the young Queen of the Naboo had evaded the blockade, and was back on the planet, presumably plotting resistance.
Despite this last little snippet, you were not prepared when the planet erupted in rebellion against the occupying droid armies. By monitoring the bridge communications frequencies you were able to keep up to date on events almost as they happened. An army of weird aliens emerged from the swamps and headed toward the capital, were they were engaged by the main Federation ground forces. A ragged flock of fighters swarmed out of the supposedly secure Theed Palace and attacked the flagship ferociously. Somewhat concerned at this, since the droid control ship was the next ship over in the battle line from the one you were on, you asked permission to take off, but were denied launch clearance. When the droid control ship abruptly exploded, the ship you were docked upon was hit hard amidships by a chunk of wreckage the size of an apartment block. The Nemoidian officers, typically, abandoned ship immediately, leaving the ship to spiral to the planet under the rather incompetent control of its droid crew, taking you, Tennerley, and your ship with it. It came down hard, smashing down in a shallow sea. You and Tennerley were unharmed, having strapped yourselves securely into a padded escape pod on your ship. Your ship itself sustained minor damage, but was saved from much worse by the heavy docking clamps it was being held in at the time of the crash.
Your ship still has power, but nothing else does after the power generators of the battleship were destroyed during the crash. All the lights, powered doors, and non-emergency systems are nonfunctional. Unfortunately, 'non-emergency systems' includes docking clamp controls, so you can't get your ship loose, and the power discharge from the ruined drive and the insulating effect of the water are combining to block communications both in and out quite effectively. So you have no idea what happened after the destruction of the droid control ship, and it seems that you're stuck here...
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Randal started as a Scoundrel 7. I let the player swap Balance and Tumble (and lose the Illicit Barter ability) for Diplomacy and Sense Motive as class skills, to suit his character concept better. He is the party skill-monster - very good at all social, repair and tech skills. At all times, Randal introduces himself as a communications tech and trader, concealing his true profession - spy for the ruling family of an insignificant Core world. Randal starts play with a Nesst class light freighter and an LE droid.
